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Google Android News, Phones and Tablets, Software and hardware reviews and moreSun, 02 Aug 2015 07:44:43 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3SMS Audio Star Wars Second Edition Headphones Review: The audio is strong with this onehttp://androidspin.com/2015/07/19/sms-audio-star-wars-second-edition-headphones-review-the-audio-is-strong-with-this-one/
http://androidspin.com/2015/07/19/sms-audio-star-wars-second-edition-headphones-review-the-audio-is-strong-with-this-one/#commentsSun, 19 Jul 2015 14:00:06 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=166113As a Star Wars nerd, when I heard SMS Audio were making headphones that were Star Wars themed, I couldn’t help but get super excited. I realize that audio companies that are started by rappers, like SMS Audio and Beats by Dre generally don’t have fantastic reputations among audiophiles for various philosophical reasons, but for me, and […]

As a Star Wars nerd, when I heard SMS Audio were making headphones that were Star Wars themed, I couldn’t help but get super excited. I realize that audio companies that are started by rappers, like SMS Audio and Beats by Dre generally don’t have fantastic reputations among audiophiles for various philosophical reasons, but for me, and I’m sure most of the remaining population of the world, how your audio equipment looks is also quite a big factor. That’s where the SMS Audio Star Wars Second Edition headphones come in, which as you can imagine, tries to leverage on its Star Wars licencing by creating headphones that look like iconic parts of the Star Wars franchise, and we’ve been checking out a pair – let’s jump in.

What’s in the box

You might think that getting the Star Wars licence was enough for SMS Audio, but they’ve actually made a very impressive effort to make this set of headphones a memorable one for fans of the franchise. The unboxing itself will be an experience: inside the box, not only will you get the Star Wars themed headphones, you’ll also get a hard case in your chosen theme with an embossed Star Wars logo, a holographic card of the hero (or villain) your headphones are themed for, a cleaning cloth and, of course, a 3.5mm audio cable with in-line mic to connect your headphones and your device.

Speaking of themes, the Star Wars Second Edition headphones are available in four different flavours, including R2-D2, Chewbacca, TIE Fighter and Darth Vader. For reference, the First Edition saw themes like the Rebel Alliance, The Empire, Boba Fett and Stormtrooper – if I’m honest, this Second Edition incorporates these new characters into the headphones much better than the First. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Chewbacca and the Darth Vader sets.

The headphones themselves are an on-ear affair, but the ear cups are a little larger than you would typically expect from on-ear headphones – they covered all of my ear, and then some. Padded with leather, the ear cups and the head band form a very cushioned fit for the Second Edition headphones. The rest of the headphones are made up of plastic and small amounts of metal – all of this makes the Second Edition headphones incredibly light, which makes a huge difference in the comfort area – more on that later.

Of course, given the size of that hard case, the Second Edition headphones are also collapsible, folding up nice and compact with plenty of room for your cable and cleaning cloth. One observation I did have of the collapsing mechanism is that it gives a very satisfying snap when opening and closing your ear cups.

How do they perform?

Soundwise, the Second Edition headphones draw their sound power from two 40mm drivers – this is pretty much the staple driver size in this part of the audio market. Accordingly, these headphones have a lot of oomph behind them, particularly in the bass area. It should be no surprise that headphones from a company founded by a rapper has bass at its heart – that much is the legacy of Beats by Dre – but if that’s your jam, you’re not going to be disappointed. Playing tunes with thumping bass-lines like Ginuwine’s Pony or Adam Lambert’s Ghost Town really accentuate what these headphones have to offer.

The mids and highs are generally good too – I’m not going to say clear because that doesn’t quite describe them: depending on where you sit on the audiophile scale, at worst, I’d call them a little muffled; at best, I’d call them warm. Listening to something like Ed Sheeran’s Photograph really highlights this as the bass overpowers the nuances of the mids and highs. Listening to classical music, however, was interesting – in keeping with the theme, I listened to John Williams’ Duel of the Fates from Star Wars and the heavier bass does actually work in the french horns’ favour – though this may be an exception. Note that there’s probably a little tuning to do with equalizer settings if that’s what you want to do – this is just what’s available out of the box.

The summarize the audio experience, I would say if you’re big on R&B, rap, dance, EDM or anything heavy on bass – even pop – the Second Edition headphones have exactly what you need. For everyone else, these headphones are still exceptionally good, don’t get me wrong – the depth they offer is actually pretty good – but they might not be tuned to your exact genre of music of choice.

Moving onto comfort, the Second Edition headphones are extremely comfortable to wear – the oval ear cups and high quality soft leather are very pleasant on the ears, and make for a very good snug fit. This snug fit also works as passive noise cancelling which works as well as passive noise cancelling can hope to work. In terms of comfort on long sessions, the Second Edition headphones are generally quite good for long periods of time, but I would say that the fit is quite tight so you may get points of soreness after a long listening session.

As I mentioned before, the cable that is included with the Second Edition headphones also includes an in-line microphone which means you can take calls while listening to music on your smartphone – a single button will also let you answer calls and pause/play your music. The mic works well enough, though it’s not anything special in crowded spaces – be ready to bring it closer to your face in those environments.

What I like about the SMS Audio Star Wars Second Edition Headphones

What isn’t to like about the looks of the Second Edition headphones? Getting the Star Wars licence is one thing but doing it justice is another – the First Edition is a little bit cool, but the Second Edition has managed to capture the Star Wars legacy even better, and I’m convinced it could find itself on any Star Wars fans’ wishlist. There are a lot of other Star Wars characters too, so I’m hoping there’s a Third Edition lurking around out there as well.

I really like the feel of the Second Edition headphones as well – a lot has been made in the media about the perception of quality in audio products, but SMS Audio does this with the Second Edition headphones without errant pieces of metal or anything – the plastics are flawlessly molded, the leathers feel great and it all feels really well put together.

What I don’t like about the SMS Audio Star Wars Second Edition Headphones

The bass is a standout on the Second Edition headphones, but for me, it’s just a tad overpowering. There are definitely songs where this is warranted, but it was a bit jarring in songs where bass isn’t supposed to be the focal point. That said, that is a personal preference, so take that as you will.

The price of the Second Edition headphones is also going to be a tall order – underneath all the awesome decor is a pair of STREET by 50 on-ear headphones, and while these do retail for $179.99 USD like the Second Edition headphones, it’s still not a small sum of money. Then again, for the Star Wars fan, whether it be a personal purchase or a gift, you’re likely not to be disappointed due to the unique nature and look of the headphones and could be worth the premium.

Final Thoughts

It’s not often that the Star Wars franchise gets licensed products that are realized so well, but we’re glad SMS Audio took the chance with these Star Wars Second Edition headphones. A set of headphones that caters for the bass-lovers, it’s a unique combination of the Star Wars franchise and quality audio, one which could be too good to pass up for many fans.

For more information about the SMS Audio Star Wars Second Edition headphones, you can get to the SMS Audio product page here. We’ve also got Amazon links below if your determined to shoot first.

SMS Audio Star Wars Second Edition Headphones Review: The audio is strong with this one

A great pair of headphones that has the added novelty of the Star Wars franchise

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/07/19/sms-audio-star-wars-second-edition-headphones-review-the-audio-is-strong-with-this-one/feed/0The Marshall London is the audiophile’s ideal smartphonehttp://androidspin.com/2015/07/16/the-marshall-london-is-the-audiophiles-ideal-smartphone/
http://androidspin.com/2015/07/16/the-marshall-london-is-the-audiophiles-ideal-smartphone/#commentsFri, 17 Jul 2015 00:37:49 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=166069Marshall is making a smartphone. Yes, that Marshall – high-end audio equipment making Marshall. Unsurprisingly, their first smartphone, the Marshall London, takes its visual appearance from the iconic look of Marshall’s audio equipment range, replete with gravel-finish black plastic and gold highlights. It’s not going to set the world on fire with its mid-range specs – […]

Marshall is making a smartphone. Yes, that Marshall – high-end audio equipment making Marshall. Unsurprisingly, their first smartphone, the Marshall London, takes its visual appearance from the iconic look of Marshall’s audio equipment range, replete with gravel-finish black plastic and gold highlights. It’s not going to set the world on fire with its mid-range specs – a Snapdragon 410, 2GB RAM and 4.7-inch display will presumably still give you some zippy Android 5.0.2 performance – but it’s the predictably audio-centric features of the London that will have audiophiles salivating (or at least Marshall hopes).

If you take a look at the device, you’ll notice that it has dual audio jacks, allowing for those random, but necessary, dual listening sessions. But the pièce de résistanceof the Marshall London is its bespoke audio processing – the use of a special Wolfson soundcard, global equalizer, and Bluetooth aptX audio. That makes the London sound a lot like another device, namely the $1,000 Sony Walkman that Sony announced at CES 2015, which begs the question: how much will the Marshall London cost? Well, the answer is actually ‘less’.

Yes, despite Marshall’s pedigree and the London’s obvious audio prowess, the Marshall London is going to work out to be around $600 USD, or thereabouts based on a rough conversion. Sure, for the Average Joe, $600 is much too much to pay for a phone with mediocre specs, but for the audiophile that has been looking for a smartphone to match their audiophillic needs, this might just be the ideal handset. Marshall says that the London should be shipping in August and will ship with a pair of Monitor headphones as a free gift. Bonus.

What do you think about the Marshall London? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/07/16/the-marshall-london-is-the-audiophiles-ideal-smartphone/feed/0BRAVEN BRV-X: A must have summer Bluetooth speaker essentialhttp://androidspin.com/2015/07/08/braven-brv-x-a-must-have-summer-bluetooth-speaker-essential-review/
http://androidspin.com/2015/07/08/braven-brv-x-a-must-have-summer-bluetooth-speaker-essential-review/#commentsWed, 08 Jul 2015 17:38:12 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=165760BRAVEN BRV-X: A must have summer Bluetooth speaker essentialBuild80%Battery 70%Sound75%Price80%The goodLong battery lifeCharges your phoneIPX7 waterproofThe badProprietary wall charger2015-07-0876%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (0 Votes)0% Summer is in full swing across the nation and for many that means getting outdoors. While I can certainly appreciate being in the great outdoors and enjoying the peaceful sounds of nature, […]

Summer is in full swing across the nation and for many that means getting outdoors. While I can certainly appreciate being in the great outdoors and enjoying the peaceful sounds of nature, that doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes want some tunes by river, lake, or camp site. There are no shortage of Bluetooth speakers to choose from out in the wild. Some offer a little more than others. Some offer very little for a lot. BRAVEN, in my opinion, is one of those speaker manufacturers that does its very best to meet consumers needs in the middle by offering a lot for a middle ground price tag. Lets take a look at one of their offerings, the BRAVEN BRV-X.

What’s in the box

BRAVEN BRV-X Speaker

Charging block with 4 international charging adaptors

3.5 to 3.5 headphone cord

BRAVEN branded strap

BRAVEN branded lanyard

Virtual overview of the exterior

On the top edges of the speaker we have controls to adjust volume, power it on and off, play/pause, change tracks and answer incoming calls.

The rear of the speaker is where you will find a screw on/off back. Under this is where you find a few key essentials to the speaker. First up is the charging port, a USB out to charger your phone or other devices, a battery life indicator and a switch for indoor and outdoor mode. You will also find an AUX in port to use that 3.5 to 3.5 headphone cable that BRAVEN packed in the box with anything that isn’t Bluetooth enabled. Just to the side of the removable back is a NFC tag that lets you easily pair the speaker to a NFC compatible device.

The bottom offers up four rather larger rubber feet that are almost sticky to reduce vibration when on a smooth surface. They aren’t quite sticky, but certainly feel like they are when you have it sitting on a table or counter.

The whole speaker is wrapped with rubber over molding combined with high-impact plastic that provides shockproof durability and gives it a unique feel in hand. Without all the fancy words, it means the speaker can take a solid beating and is likely to not withstand some bumps and drops without falling apart.

Interior specs

Inside BRAVEN packed a 5,200 mAh battery to power the speaker and any device you need a power boost to while on the go. It is rated for 12 hours of continuous playback at medium volume. That rating excludes any device charging of course. Braven doesn’t offer up details on the speakers, drivers or any hard numbers for audiophiles. It is apparent that there are two speakers that can be seen behind the front grill. As for watts, or ohms or impedance ranges, I am at a loss.

Additional, and important, details

There are a number of additional details to the BRV-X that are notable. Obviously this line is geared as a much more rugged outdoor type of speaker. That means it can take a good beating and keep on playing. It also means that as long as the rear cover is in place the speaker is also water-resistant with an IPX7 rating. That rating gives the speaker protection against submersion of 1 meter for 30 minutes before something could potentially go wrong. I see no reason to go diving with the speaker, but an accidental foll or splash won’t ruin your tunes for the day.

BRAVEN also has a pretty killer technology built into the speaker that they dub TrueWireless Technology. This technology allows you to pair two BRV-X device to each other to give you left and right stereo output while controlling it all from the same device.

How does it sound?

As mentioned above, the BRV-X carriers two sound profiles. One for indoor listening and one for outdoor listening. The indoor settings turns up the bass and gives you a full body sound for a large room. It can crank to max and not have any popping or distortion. However, if you go into your phone, or audio apps, settings and push things up to its max there can be some crackling issues. In a nut shell, don’t toss on Dre and crank the bass boost to 100% and expect it to thump without some potential audio issues. I did adjust some of the output sound through Rhapsody to get a little more bass and level out the mids/highs easily though for a bit more of customized sound experience.

The outdoor mode takes things to the opposite side of the spectrum by pulling the bass down quite a bit and pushing the mids the highs up. It pushes more sound for a larger outdoor space that is still clear and sounds great at all volumes. It would be thee perfect setting for late night moving watching in the tent on lower volumes as it highlights the voices quite nicely.

I ran a few phone calls through the speaker since it does offer an integrated microphone for speakerphone functionality. The recipients could tell I was on speakerphone, but were clueless to it being any different from my phones speakerphone. They could hear me just fine and I could easily hear them. Switching to outdoor mode seemed to product the best voice quality as it cleared out the bass from some of my male friends voices.

How does the battery perform?

I currently work in a retail space for 8 to 10 hours a day. The speaker sits out in plain view pumping out tunes from a variety of devices from the second we open until we close. It sits mostly at medium volume with some max volumes for demonstration purposes or to open/close the store. I have had no issues with the speaker lasting the whole shift with most occasions having it last through two whole days before it needs to be charged. By days I mean open to close for our retail hours which is 10 – 7.

What is it going to cost me?

The speaker is competitively priced for the rugged sector with a sound quality that matches nicely at $199.99. That price tags offers you up the gray and black offering in this review or the black with blue accent variant of the BRV-X.

What I like best about the BRV-X

Being that I have kids and it is summer, I really love that the speaker is IPX7 rated. It has sat outside on a number of occasions in the front and back during water fights and sprinkler sessions all without fear of it getting wet. It is plenty loud enough on both indoor and outdoor modes to rock my yard and that of a few neighbors. Lucky for me my neighbors all have the same taste in music that I do and they usually want me to turn it up more.

It is small enough and light enough to take on trips but packs enough sound to not force you to sit 3 feet away to hear it.

Indoor and outdoor mode give you a quick ability to switch profiles with little fuss and the difference in how it sounds is noticeable enough to warrant switching it for different environments.

The included strap is pretty cool and can be very useful in a variety of situations. Strapping it to the front or back of a quad, to a small tree or to the boat are the first things that come to mind. I strapped it to a low branch on the tree in the back yard to elevate the speaker and help it throw some more sound out over everyone heads.

What I dislike most about the BRV-X

A person can easily pick apart any product for some flaws. I do my best to point out the little things that may or may not drive you crazy. In the case of the BRV-X it still rests on the proprietary charging plug that still needs to be plugged into a wall outlet for charging. This method of charging is understandable, but limits long-term outdoor use for some. If I plan a week-long backpack trip and want to take the speaker for some tunes, I will be out of luck on day 2 or 3. I don’t usually venture out that long personally. Most trips have a car or generator accessible for one reason or another and I can give it a charge if needed. However, the lack of additional charging options, like a micro USB port for instance, is perplexing.

While I am very confident in the companies support and customer service, I don’t see a way to purchase another power plug-in the event of the one in the box getting lost or damaged.

The Bluetooth connection, whether connected manually or by NFC, was as quick and as painless as any other Bluetooth product I have used. It offers the usual 33-foot range and you will notice the music cut in and out around that marker. Other interference can cause the same thing. I also noticed that if you have multiple devices paired to the speaker that it will connect to what it feels like offers the best connection, not necessarily the one you are trying to pair with. I did have to put the speaker back into pairing mode to make it switch to the device I wanted to use at the moment. I am not sure if that is a fault of the speaker, or the devices and Bluetooth though as other devices I have available are super easy to toggle the connection on and off and connect to another device.

Overall thoughts

If you are in need of a solidly built, lightweight, great sounding and long-lasting speaker to get you through your summer adventures and beyond, it is hard to say that the BRAVEN BRV-X isn’t a solid choice for $199.99, from BRAVEN.com. Everyone that I know that has listened to them say they sound better and outperfom the Beats Pill and other similar devices they have used or purchased. I never got into the Beats hype, but I trust their opinions as much as they trust mine when it comes to product purchases. All that have picked one up tell me they still love it and use it nearly daily in the back yard for BBQ’s, at the river with the family, out camping on the weekends and on their desks at home.

You can venture over to BRAVEN’s site to take a closer look and order it directly from the company if you do so desire. If you love shopping though Amazon as much as I do though, you can save yourself a little money on both color options. At the time of posting this the BRV-X in black was $168.98 and the gray was $187.59. Odd price difference for the same speaker, but I don’t have control over that. Hit the links to get one ordered today. If you are looking for a different option, maybe something a little smaller like the BRV-1 check out BRAVEN’s other speakers on Amazon

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/07/08/braven-brv-x-a-must-have-summer-bluetooth-speaker-essential-review/feed/0MEElectronics Air-Fi Touch Advanced Bluetooth Wireless Headphones Review: Touching is allowedhttp://androidspin.com/2015/06/08/meelectronics-air-fi-touch-advanced-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-review-touching-is-allowed/
http://androidspin.com/2015/06/08/meelectronics-air-fi-touch-advanced-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-review-touching-is-allowed/#commentsMon, 08 Jun 2015 12:58:03 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=164621I love wireless Bluetooth headphones, but one of the things that bugs me the most about them are unintuitive controls mounted on the headset themselves – too often, I find myself feeling around for the right button to press, which can become a real pain if you’re doing it day in and day out. MEElectronics Air-Fi […]

I love wireless Bluetooth headphones, but one of the things that bugs me the most about them are unintuitive controls mounted on the headset themselves – too often, I find myself feeling around for the right button to press, which can become a real pain if you’re doing it day in and day out. MEElectronics Air-Fi Touch Advanced Bluetooth Wireless Headphones aim to do away with all these buttons and simply use touch to manipulate your audio experience, which sounds great, in theory. Which is why we’ve been taking them for a spin – let’s check it out.

What’s in the box

In the box of the Air-Fi Touch you will find a capsule-shaped hard case containing the headphones and an assortment of accessories. With the Air-Fi Touch, you will get a 2.5mm to 2.5mm audio cable (for when your battery runs flat) and a microUSB charging cable to charge your headphones back up. As always, I’m extremely happy that MEElectronics has included a case to house the headphones (and accessories) as their Air-Fi range has always been versatile travel companions.

As you can probably surmise from the title of this review, the Air-Fi Touch headphones are wireless via Bluetooth. With no cables attached, the headset is incredibly light even with the controls mounted on the left side, which brings us to the name of the headphones and its secret party trick: Touch. Yes, the Air-Fi Touch employs the use of touch gestures to control your music, and we’ll cover how it is to use a little later on in the review.

Objectively, I quite like the way the Air-Fi Touch looks, particularly as the form factor reminds me of the VOXOA headphones I reviewed last year. There is an element of class though with the Air-Fi Touch, particularly with the glossy black finish and gold highlights. The headset itself is fully collapsible which makes it a snap to pack up and remains compact even when in its case.

How do they perform

The thing that keeps me coming back the MEElectronics’ products is that they not only have great sounding headphones for a great price – they have great audio quality period, and the Air-Fi Touch is business as usual. The high and mid ranges are extremely clear and crisp, while there’s enough bass to keep everything in balance. Those of you who listen to lots of EDM or house music may find the native bass a little lacking, but this can always be modified with an equalizer.

On to those touch controls, for which these headphones are named. There are four directional commands the Air-Fi Touch can take which are two volumes (up and down) and skipping tracks (back and forward). Unlike a smart device’s display, the controls aren’t quite as responsive so you’ll need quite a large movement and more pressure than you’d expect to get a swipe to register – for example, you would swipe up to increase volume and down to decrease volume. It takes a bit of time to get used to the motion, but once practiced, it’s easy enough to manage while the headphones are on your head.

Comfort-wise, the Air-Fi Touch headphones are very similar to the VOXOA headphones I mentioned earlier, but I would say that these ones are a little bit tighter. Unfortunately, that does mean that after an extended period of listening (probably around 4 hours), my ears did start to ache a bit, but I generally do have more issues with headphones as my head is quite large – if you have a smaller head, your experience may vary. Even so, I would say overall, the Air-Fi Touch is quite comfortable, and the leather padded ear pads are extremely comfortable and set gently on your ears. The headband is likewise generously padded and works well, especially considering how light the Air-Fi Touch headphones are.

What I like about the MEElectronics Air-Fi Touch Headphones

I really love how versatile the Air-Fi Touch headphones are – being able to be folded up and stored in a protective case is a big plus for travellers, and the fact that they still function with an audio cable is also really useful too when you don’t know when your next charge up is.

I am also incredibly impressed by the battery life of the Air-Fi Touch – while I don’t want to make it sound like hyperbole, I honestly don’t remember needing to charge them all that often over the course of my review. MEElectronics claims that they will last 24 hours of playback, and I’m pretty certain you’ll be getting at least that, if not a little bit more.

What I don’t like about the MEElectronics Air-Fi Touch Headphones

Typically, when you adjust the volume using your headset controls, you expect it to change the volume on your device. Unfortunately, this is not what happens with the Air-Fi Touch as it appears to have a volume setting for the headset independent of the volume your device is outputting – in fact, I went through most of this review thinking they were too soft until I realized this was the case. It’s a small annoyance, but it’s a bit frustrating if you alternate between changing volume on the headset and your device frequently.

This one almost pains me to say but I don’t think touch gestures belong on headsets – note that this has nothing to do with the Air-Fi Touch in particular but just touch controls on headphones in general. While the controls themselves work well enough, they still possess the same problem that normal wireless headset buttons have which, to me, is that they’re never quite intuitive enough and you always end up thinking about which direction to swipe. Volume, in this case, was fine as it makes sense to go up and down, but skipping tracks was always an ordeal for me. And with touch in particular, if you’re using the Air-Fi Touch in public and you’re swiping away at your headset, I can only imagine what it might look like to other people. But keep in mind that this is just my opinion and as I said earlier, there’s nothing wrong with how the controls themselves work so if this is your cup of tea, swipe away.

Final Thoughts

The MEElectronics Air-Fi Touch Advanced Bluetooth Wireless Headphones ticks all the right boxes – it’s versatile, portable, and has great audio quality, which is basically what you want from any set of headphones. As for the novelty of its party trick i.e. touch gestures, there are a few little things that irk me personally, but none that I would call dealbreakers or anything that takes away from the fact that these are a fantastic pair of Bluetooth headphones.

If you’re interested in checking out more about the MEElectronics Air-Fi Touch Advanced Bluetooth Wireless Headphones, they retail for $99.99 USD on the MEElectronics site here.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/06/08/meelectronics-air-fi-touch-advanced-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-review-touching-is-allowed/feed/0Divoom Airbeat-10 Review: A Bluetooth speaker for leisure and the bathroomhttp://androidspin.com/2015/05/23/divoom-airbeat-10-review-a-bluetooth-speaker-for-leisure-and-the-bathroom/
http://androidspin.com/2015/05/23/divoom-airbeat-10-review-a-bluetooth-speaker-for-leisure-and-the-bathroom/#commentsSat, 23 May 2015 05:49:01 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=163567The market for Bluetooth speakers, by now, is extremely saturated – there’s pretty much a speaker in every form factor to suit all needs and lifestyles. One form of speaker that I haven’t tried myself (having only dealt with medium to large speakers) is the small speaker, the kind that you can pocket and take with […]

The market for Bluetooth speakers, by now, is extremely saturated – there’s pretty much a speaker in every form factor to suit all needs and lifestyles. One form of speaker that I haven’t tried myself (having only dealt with medium to large speakers) is the small speaker, the kind that you can pocket and take with you anywhere. This is an area that the Divoom Airbeat-10 has staked its claim, so let’s check out just how good it is.

What’s in the box

Most speakers only come with a few extra cables – one for charging, one for attaching auxiliary audio devices. The Divoom Airbeat-10 does this, but also includes a few accessories that could come in handy if you’re someone who likes to take your music with you everywhere – with the Airbeat-10, you’ll also get a suction cup which can allow you to stick your speaker up on smooth surfaces i.e. bathroom walls, and a clip that allows you to mount the speaker on poles, possibly on a bike handlebar or something similar. Both these add-ons have a simple screw thread which allows them to be screwed into the back of the Airbeat-10.

The Airbeat-10 itself is a relatively rugged affair – covered mostly in a rubbery exterior, the Airbeat-10 feels like it would survive in most outdoor situations and only need a wipe down afterwards. It’s also tiny, measuring 87mm tall and 78mm wide when standing up – I may have relatively big hands, but I can grab the whole speaker in one of my hands. It also has a IPX44 rating, which means it’s splashproof, making it perfect for those beach, pool and shower activities. Naturally, this means that all the controls and ports of the Airbeat-10 are very well covered up.

On the side of the device, you’ll find the power button, a play buttons and the volume up and down buttons. Nestled between the play and volume down buttons is the in-built microphone – this allows the Airbeat-10 to also act as a speakerphone, just in case you need to take a call while washing the day away. Hidden behind a swivelling panel are the auxiliary cable output and the microUSB charging port.

How does it perform

Sometimes its hard to judge just how good a speaker of this size should sound given that physically it simply can’t keep up with bigger speakers, however, the Airbeat-10 manages to hold its own quite well. It struggles to get full sounding bass, but otherwise, the treble and mid ranges sound well-rounded and clear playing a range of today’s popular tracks like Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk and Walk the Moon’s Shut Up and Dance.

As you might expect from the way it looks , the Airbeat-10 is pretty well made – I did (completely accidentally) drop it a few times from waist height and it looked no worse for wear. I will say, however, that while the rubbery exterior gives the Airbeat-10 an incredible sense of insurance, it makes it an absolute dust magnet, though that can be fixed with a quick wipe down with a wet cloth – which you can do, because it’s splashproof.

What I like about the Divoom Airbeat-10

I really like the Airbeat-10 for its size. That might sound like I’ve fallen for the smaller speaker form factor, but it’s more the fact I like the whole package that you get with the Airbeat-10. The rugged exterior, the great sound and the lifestyle accessories make it a compelling choice for anyone looking for a multi-purpose Bluetooth speaker than can survive occasionally outside of the home.

What I don’t like about the Divoom Airbeat-10

Probably my only complaint concerns the battery life of the Airbeat-10. It’s quoted as 6 hours, and while I did experience slightly more than this during my tests, it is still a short amount of time given the kind of activities you might want to attempt with such a rugged speaker. Luckily, this is offset a little by the 2.5 hour charge-up time, and frankly the size of the speaker probably doesn’t allow for any more juice to be crammed into the frame, but that’s just how I felt during the course of this review.

Final thoughts

Like the previous Divoom products we’ve reviewed here at AndroidSPIN, the Divoom Airbeat-10 Bluetooth speaker is a miniature package with plenty to offer the active user. With enough insurance to let you use it in most situations around the house and during leisure activities, and great audio, the Airbeat-10 is a great choice for anyone looking for something that you’re not afraid to take places when you still want music.

If you’re interested in seeing more about the Divoom Airbeat-10, you can visit its product page here, or if you want to skip straight yo buying it, Amazon has actually discounted the Airbeat-10 right now, making it $29.99 USD (down from $49.90 normally) – we have an Amazon link down below if you’re interested.

Divoom Airbeat-10 Review: A Bluetooth speaker for leisure and the bathroom

A very portable, great sounding, little speaker that is great in all situations when out and about

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/05/23/divoom-airbeat-10-review-a-bluetooth-speaker-for-leisure-and-the-bathroom/feed/0[Deal Alert] LG Tone+ HB730 Bluetooth Headset hits Daily Steals for $30http://androidspin.com/2015/02/27/deal-alert-lg-tone-hb730-bluetooth-headset-hits-daily-steals-for-30/
http://androidspin.com/2015/02/27/deal-alert-lg-tone-hb730-bluetooth-headset-hits-daily-steals-for-30/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 05:46:12 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=162029I have heard a lot of great things about the LG Tone+ Bluetooth headsets over the last few months from a number of people. I have yet to personally give them a run, but with a current deal running on Daily Steals that brings them to us for $30 per pair, I might just have […]

I have heard a lot of great things about the LG Tone+ Bluetooth headsets over the last few months from a number of people. I have yet to personally give them a run, but with a current deal running on Daily Steals that brings them to us for $30 per pair, I might just have to jump in on a set for the heck of it.

They aren’t going to brand spanking new, but they are re-certified, which isn’t always a bad thing. Spec wise they feature a memory flex neck strap, echo cancellation, noise reduction, Bluetooth 3.0, multipoint connectivity, 15 hours of talk time and 10 hours of music playback and will charge in roughly 2 hours. LG has them listed on their site for $69.99 and I have seen them on Amazon for $64.95. While both are for new units, it is hard to pass up a near 2 for 1 option on re-certified variants.

Direct yourself over to DailySteals and grab a pair or two in either black or white.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/02/27/deal-alert-lg-tone-hb730-bluetooth-headset-hits-daily-steals-for-30/feed/0MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones Review: Are you ready to Rumble?http://androidspin.com/2015/02/22/meelectronics-air-fi-rumble-bluetooth-headphones-review-are-you-ready-to-rumble/
http://androidspin.com/2015/02/22/meelectronics-air-fi-rumble-bluetooth-headphones-review-are-you-ready-to-rumble/#commentsSun, 22 Feb 2015 13:06:11 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=161197Our overview of MEElectronics’ CES 2015 line-up last month definitely gave the impression that MEElectronics is aiming at starting 2015 on the right foot, but before we move onto their latest products, we have to cover one of their headphones that launched late last year. The MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones are the latest thing in […]

One thing that we’ve gotten used to with MEElectronics products is all the included accessories, particularly the carry bag, which I’m a huge fan of. As expected, besides the headphones themselves, the box contains everything you’ll need to get started with the Rumble including a micro-USB cable, a 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable, user manual and that carry bag.

As we mentioned in the introduction, the Rumble looks more than a little bit like the Atlas, which was a wired set of headphones. Being part of the Air-Fi line, of course, means that the Rumble is completely wireless, connecting via Bluetooth to your mobile device. While the Rumble isn’t quite as striking to look at, it still retains the glossy finish and instead introduces an interesting two-tone colour design – we’ve got the white and blue version here, but you can also get it in black and red for something a little less conspicuous.

Also like MEElectronics’ other headphones, the Rumble is fully collapsible, allowing it to fit into the carry bag with lots of space to spare. This makes transporting the headphones and its associated cables extremely convenient.

How does it perform?

Let’s start with audio quality. Pretty well all MEElectronics products exude value, and that not only extends to the accessories in the box, but surprising audio fidelity as well. With that in mind, I’m glad to say that the Rumble headphones is definitely one of their best – out of the box, it offers an incredibly balanced audio experience without the need for EQ tuning. The bass is amazing, and the mids and highs are extremely clear. If there is but one fault, it’s that there’s probably not enough depth to the sound – often it sounds like there’s a wall of sound at your ear. But for the price point the Rumble is at, there aren’t many other headphones with 40mm drivers that produce sounds like this. The microphone performance is pretty decent too with call audio getting through clearly and likewise the Bluetooth call audio is good too.

Moving onto comfort, you might expect that there isn’t all that much new to say about the Rumble since it basically shares the same design as the Atlas, and you’d be right. Bar the weight of the cable which the Atlas had, the Rumble feels exactly the same – although, considering the fact that there are controls in the left side of the headset, the Rumble feels remarkably balanced. The earcups are lined with the familiar perforated leather, and the headband is covered with the same soft leather as on the Atlas. Overall, it’s a pretty comfortable fitting headset as it’s not too tight around the headband (it’s probably a little on the loose side) and the earcups are nicely fitted for sitting on top of your ears. I do have the same slight complaint as on the Atlas which is that I found that the back of my ear would eventually get a bit sore from being pinned to my head after about an hour or so. That said, that might just be me and my big head (and big ears).

The fit of the Rumble is something important to bring up at this point because while it is a comfortable fit, its looseness affects its ability to cancel surrounding noise, and conversely, keep sound from leaving your headset. In an office setting, it’s actually pretty easy to hear everything going on around you and the only real way to combat this is by turning you music up a little more. Unfortunately, this is a double edged sword as if you are listening to something particularly zealous, the sound will leak out. Let’s be clear – this is more a problem with on-ear headphones in general rather than the Rumble in particular, but its just something you have to be aware of.

Battery performance of the Rumble is pretty impressive with MEElectronics saying you’ll be getting 14 hours playback out of them, which is pretty close to what we’ve been experiencing, and should get you through most any day. Recharging them is a snap too as you only need to plug in the micro-USB cable into the base of the headphones and 2 hours later you’ll be good to go again. And if you do for some reason run out of battery, the Rumble also operates as a wired set of headphones – just use the audio cable provided to connect the headphones and your audio device and away you go even with no battery power.

What I like about the MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones

Like its Air-Fi predecessors before it, the Rumble’s prime selling point is the fact that it is a wireless headset that doesn’t cost much at all and offers great audio quality. It does sound like a bit of a cop out to say that one of the things I like about it is the whole package, but that’s exactly how I feel, and I think it’s because MEElectronics has been at this value thing for so long that they’ve gotten it to a fine art. The Rumble is currently available on the MEElectronics website for $59.99USD, which is a very decent price for wireless headphones, and I think you’d struggle to find something much cheaper that replicates its stat sheet.

Probably the other thing I like most about the Rumble headphones is how light they are. Despite all the internal electronics the Rumble is supremely light, weighing in at under 150 grams and making it an absolute pleasure to travel with. Sure, the lightness due to the plastic might make it appear to be flimsy, but the build quality has me confident it can survive more than the odd bump from time to time.

What I don’t like about the MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones

My only real complaint with the Atlas headphones remains my only real complaint about the Rumble – the comfort is the only downside for me, as I mention above. I want to clarify that the comfort of these headphones might even be perfect for you, but for me, they are just a little too difficult to wear for hours on end. Overall, they are a comfy set of headphones and they don’t squeeze your head at all, so that might be all you are looking for.

Final Thoughts

The MEElectronics Air-Fi Rumble Bluetooth Headphones are yet another well-rounded Air-Fi product that presents yet another impressive case for great value in wireless headphones. They sound great, feel great, are extremely portable, and they are priced quite competitively to boot. If you’re looking for a great value pair of Bluetooth headphones, it’s hard not to consider these.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/02/22/meelectronics-air-fi-rumble-bluetooth-headphones-review-are-you-ready-to-rumble/feed/0[Deal] MiiSport Bluetooth Headphones with Mic, 27% offhttp://androidspin.com/2015/02/17/deal-miisport-bluetooth-headphones-with-mic-27-off/
http://androidspin.com/2015/02/17/deal-miisport-bluetooth-headphones-with-mic-27-off/#commentsTue, 17 Feb 2015 21:37:59 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=161537In some parts of the country we are seeing sunshine and warm weather, sorry Chicago. This usually means it is about time to dust off those running or biking shoes and start working off that Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Or in my case, the whole winter bulk up to stay warm. To do that one […]

In some parts of the country we are seeing sunshine and warm weather, sorry Chicago. This usually means it is about time to dust off those running or biking shoes and start working off that Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Or in my case, the whole winter bulk up to stay warm. To do that one might need some tunes to make the journey go by a little faster. Bluetooth headphones are usually a good choice when it comes time to hit the ground running. Currently on StackSocial there is a set of MiiSport Bluetooth Headphones that offer a full over the ear style design on sale.

The MiiSports offer a fair amount of features for the cost. Coming in at $42.99 vs the traditional $59. They carry a 300 mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR and side controls. There is a built-in mic so you can keep chugging along and answer those important calls if needed. An additional function t the MiiSports is the built-in MP3 player. Giving you the ability to add 7,000 songs to the headphones themselves and leave your phone at home. Also, being that they are a sport model, they are sweat-proof.

head over to the link below to take a look and get a set ordered for your next run.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/02/17/deal-miisport-bluetooth-headphones-with-mic-27-off/feed/0AfterShokz Bluez 2 gives you open ear, bone conductive music and callshttp://androidspin.com/2015/01/20/aftershokz-bluez-2-gives-open-ear-bone-conductive-music-calls/
http://androidspin.com/2015/01/20/aftershokz-bluez-2-gives-open-ear-bone-conductive-music-calls/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 02:45:18 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=160310AfterShokz Bluez 2 gives you open ear, bone conductive music and callsBuild QualitySound QualityEase of Use2015-01-204.2Overall ScoreReader Rating: (1 Vote) When we think of Bluetooth headphones, or ear pieces, one typically thinks of earbuds or over the ear headphone styles. Even most Bluetooth headsets that are mono sit in the ear. This method of delivering […]

AfterShokz Bluez 2 gives you open ear, bone conductive music and calls

Build Quality

Sound Quality

Ease of Use

2015-01-20

4.2Overall Score

Reader Rating: (1 Vote)

When we think of Bluetooth headphones, or ear pieces, one typically thinks of earbuds or over the ear headphone styles. Even most Bluetooth headsets that are mono sit in the ear. This method of delivering sound to your ear works, and works quite well. However, putting buds in your ears or cups over them takes you into your very own world where the things around you don’t even matter. That is great at home in a safe environment, or even at work when you want to ignore your boss and his boring lecture, but if you are a runner, cyclist or dad shutting off the world can be troublesome. That is where Aftershokz comes in with their Bluez 2 open ear design headphones. I am not even really sure I can call them headphones, but that is what I can use to best describe them.

The Build

The Bluez 2 are an open ear design that utilize bone conduction in order to deliver sound to your inner ear without needing to be in your ear or covering your ear. This design alone means you can still hear what is going on around you while you are listening to music or taking calls. The unit wraps around the back of your head with two hook like arms that sit over your ears, this places the actual speaker just in front of your ear.

On the right hang side, under the arm, you have a set of buttons to control volume levels as well as turning the device on and off. The volume buttons can also be pressed simultaneously to change the equalization of the sound when listening to music. They are fairly easy to find once you get used to how the unit sits on your ears and head. The volume up button offers a small raised nodule to keep you from needing to pull them off to figure out what is what.

The opposite side, on the outer edge, is your multifunction button. As the name would suggest, this small silver key does a variety of things for you. You can answer or end calls, reject incoming calls, mute and unmute the mic, redial the last number, activate voice dialing or pause and play your tunes. All are pretty straight forward with a few small long holds for some of the tasks depending on the situation. For instance, long pressing it for 2 seconds will activate the voice dial function where as long pressing for 2 seconds while on a call will disconnect it.

The physical plastic band that wraps around your neck is a hardened plastic material. It does offer a fair amount of flex to open it up for wider heads, but the somewhat shallow depth of them could pose issues for those with larger skulls. Aftershokz does include a rubber insert that makes the inner section fit a little firmer on smaller, more delicate heads.

The unit is also coated in a nanotechnology coating to protect it against sweat and water during heavy workouts or rain storms. This doesn’t mean you should go swimming with them though as they aren’t rated to handle full submersion.

The Sound

Bone conduction technology isn’t a new thing out there. Panasonic has a set of headphones that use the technology in their RP-BTGS10-K and their RP-HGS10-W. I can’t speak to how those sound or perform though as the Aftershokz Bluez 2 are my first experience with the technology. The sound on these is much better then I initially was thinking they would be. I can clearly hear my music at moderate to high volumes and the clarity of phone call conversations was equally surprising, in a good way. Depending on your tunes or the person you are speaking with, the bass can rattle your cheek bone, and therefore be a little ticklish. Simply turning down the volume slightly solved it for me.

While the technology isn’t new, they still haven’t perfected it. The headset does leak a fair amount of sound when cranked up, as suspected. Aftershokz notes they use LeakSlayer technology to reduce sound leakage and compared to the sound you get when you are wearing them to the amount of sound produced externally, I’d say it helps a fair amount. It would seem the most leakage occures with rock, metal, hop hop and rap styles, where as Jazz and classical styles seem to be much quieter. If you are looking for an open ear silent option these probably aren’t your cup of tea. However, at ultra low, nearly zero, volume in silent situations you can still hear fairly well with minimal to no external sound production.

Comfort

A common issue I have with headsets is their comfort for long periods of time. With in-ear earbuds you typical face a few hours before fatigue sets in and your ears start to prompt you to pull them out for a while. It is actually not really a good idea to keep things in your ears like that for a long period of time either. On the over the ear front you generally run into the fluctuation of fit to your head and being able to move about without them falling off. Sometimes the fit is to tight and clamps your ear and head which is uncomfortable, or they are too loose and a quick turn will make them slip. With the Bluez 2 it is a bit more complicated. We are moving from the traditional fit to ones that hover just in front of your ears and wrap around behind you neck. This makes the biggest fear the amount of pressure that they place on your head at the point of contact. I have worn these for a few full days of use, either just pared for potential notifications and calls, to streaming music to kill the battery. While my ears don’t have issues, the area just outside where they rest as well as the location they rest over the ear do warrant a little re-adjustment every couple of hours.

The fit is one of the more concerning aspects to the Bluez 2 though. I am a sizeable guy, but the physical size of my head is rather small. I currently wear a small/medium flexfit hat to give you an idea of my head size. This is an important factor because the Bluez 2 are a ‘one size fits all’ style without any adjustable pieces to make the arms longer. I visited the booth with Alex Hernandez and Justin Jelinek from Techaeris, and neither of them could use these because their heads were too large. Not in terms of width as the Bluez 2 do flex open quite a bit, more so in terms of depths from the front of the ear to the back of their heads. This seems to be a fairly major design flaw in my opinion that excludes many individuals.

Something like this also raises the question about comfort or use with glasses, be that prescription or just sunglasses in the summer. In the image of the side of my head my glasses are perched on my hat. That is how generally wear them when I am out regardless of the Aftershokz being on my head. I snapped another picture with the shades tucked under the Aftershokz. (yes, I need a haircut desperately) They slid under just fine since they are a straight-arm style pair of sun glasses.

However, I imagine a traditional hook style arm could get in the way or be rather uncomfortable as the arms to the Bluez 2 do press in slightly at that point on the head and do have a slide hook aspect that curls over the back of your ear.

Battery life

Aftershokz rates the Bluez 2 for 6 hours of continuous playback with 10 hours of standby time. Not outstanding, but should suffice for a full day depending on your uses. Streaming tunes all day and you won’t make it, but mix it up and you should be able to pull through. I feel they are more designed for your workouts and half day endeavors then for an all day Bluetooth accessory. During my tests I averaged between 5 to 7 hours of actual use time before needing to charge them back up. Charging is pretty straight forward though. Simply pop the plug that covers the micro USB port and plug them in. The Bluez 2 take about 2 hours to go from dead to full charge and a quick 15 minute charge should get you through the remainder of a day, so they say.

Overall thoughts

I love music and headphones greatly. I am an over the ear type of person or one who wants a huge set of speakers shaking the whole house. I also have 3 kids and get limited with life around me if I am rocking out. That leads to irritation when I have to keep pausing the music or taking the headphones off to hear what my son, daughter or wife needs. These really do alleviate that aspect by letting me listen to tunes while I cook, clean or am at the park with my son but still be able to hear what is going on around me.

The Bluez 2 are certainly slick and sleek-looking and often time garner a set of looks and questions when out and about. They sound much better than I was expecting, especially while on calls. They certainly aren’t going to appease a hard-core audiophile who is looking for the perfect match of mids, highs and lows, but a music lover will appreciate the ability to hear a wide range of notes with ease thanks to a number of technological factors that Aftershokz is using such as PremiumPitch stereo sound and LeakSlayer.

The Aftershokz Bluez 2 bone conductive open ear headphones are currently available on the market and come in at $99.99 in most cases and offer up the traditional black reviewed above or a neon green accent variant.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/01/20/aftershokz-bluez-2-gives-open-ear-bone-conductive-music-calls/feed/0Oaxis Bento Magnetic Induction Audio Speaker Review: Simple and a little bit magichttp://androidspin.com/2015/01/17/oaxis-bento-magnetic-induction-audio-speaker-review-simple-little-bit-magic/
http://androidspin.com/2015/01/17/oaxis-bento-magnetic-induction-audio-speaker-review-simple-little-bit-magic/#commentsSat, 17 Jan 2015 10:40:26 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=159971The speaker market is getting more saturated with each passing year with more and more companies putting out their versions of speakers, more often than not with Bluetooth capability. Which is why we were particularly intrigued by the Oaxis Bento Magnetic Induction Audio Speaker, a speaker that has no convention connection to the device playing the […]

The speaker market is getting more saturated with each passing year with more and more companies putting out their versions of speakers, more often than not with Bluetooth capability. Which is why we were particularly intrigued by the Oaxis Bento Magnetic Induction Audio Speaker, a speaker that has no convention connection to the device playing the music – no wires, no Bluetooth – besides physically sitting on it. Let’s check it out and see how magnetic induction stands up to its Bluetooth competition.

What’s in the box

For a device that requires no wires, the Bento comes the bare minimum in the box. Actually, the comment about not requiring wires is a misnomer – the Bento can be operated as a standard speaker with audio input to the back of the device via audio cable to a music playback device, though it’s designed to be used without them with your smartphone, or like device. As this is the case, Oaxis has included a 3.5mm audio cable if you need to connect with a cable, and also a microUSB cable for charging the device.

The Bento is actually quite a lot bigger than I expected it to be, but looking back on the press photos, I realize that should have clicked earlier. The top plate of the Bento is designed to fit a device up to about the size of a 7-inch tablet, and the edge around the top makes it difficult to put anything much bigger than that on it while maintaining contact with the surface – more on why that’s important later.

Also, despite what illusions I might of had that the speaker was actually able to compress further to hide the speaker in the mid-section, the whole speaker is actually rigid and is set in stone as you see it here. The Bento is designed to be portable, and it definitely is light, however it’s definitely not the most compact speaker.

How does it perform

The first time you get the Bento to amplify your music, it’s like magic – what was once quiet and tinny is now booming. The key word here is ‘amplify’, because that is essentially what the Bento does when you place your device on the top of the plate, amplifying whatever you’re playing on your device and making it louder. One of the more fiddly things to get the Bento working is that your device needs to be lined up perfectly with its speaker to a line that is drawn on the Bento’s top surface – this normally requires some wiggling at first, but like I said earlier, finding the sweet spot is pretty exciting.

As the Bento is amplifying the sound coming out of your device, it’s naturally limited by the actual audio performance of your device, though there does appear to be some magic in the background (i.e. physics) that make it sound slightly better. My LG G3 doesn’t have a terrible speaker, nor does it have an amazing one, but despite this, the Bento managed to give the sound a bit more depth, kind of like an artificial surround sound feature. I’d like to know what a better speaker might be able to do, but it did the job with my LG G3 and I was pleasantly surprised by the volume output of the Bento. Volume, of course, is controlled by your device, so unless you have the back mounted buttons of an LG G3 to contend with, this should be a relatively uneventful affair. I did note, however, that putting my LG G3 screen down on the Bento also yielded a similar, if more muffled and quieter, effect.

Because the Bento employs active induction rather than passive induction, it does actually require a rechargable battery which lasts roughly 6 hours. It’s said to need about 3 hours to charge up to, so you’ll be wanting to make the most of the time you spend playing music as well.

What I like about the Oaxis Bento Speaker

Simplicity is the number one thing I like about the Bento, particularly setting it up. Sure it takes a few moments of fiddling with your device’s positioning, but once it’s in the sweet spot, there’s nothing more to muck about with like Bluetooth pairing or companion apps. Easy as.

What I don’t like about the Oaxis Bento Speaker

With a product this simple, it’s sometimes difficult to come up with relevant peeves, however there was one thing that was disconcerting for me. If the volume of your device was somewhat low and there was a quiet period in the music, the Bento appeared to sometimes miss amplifying these parts of the music. Sure, turning up the volume did away with this, but sometimes that’s not always an option.

Final Thoughts

As far as simple products go, the Oaxis Bento Magnetic Induction Audio Speaker does exactly what it says on the box – it’s easy to set up and amplifies sound and does so with a minimum of fuss. If you’re in the market for something a little different from the masses of Bluetooth speakers out there, the Bento is a very intriguing proposition.

If you’re interested in picking up a Bento, they are available right now from gearbest.com for $62.79 USD, discounted by 35% and with free shipping – you can visit the product page here. Also, stay tuned because we’ll be giving away one of these speakers in the very near future.